DDay 2 | Day 4 | Day 6 | 7 | Day 9 *** Day 10: Tech Tech — what exactly does that mean? Technology? Phones that cost >$1k but still die after being exposed to cold for less than an hour? Michigan Tech? The dudes who stay up late drinking and prepping skis? All of these? None of these? Inquiring minds want to know. In the vernacular that I am establishing here is it really more of the...
DDay 2 | Day 4 | Day 6 | 7 | Ride your bike? I rode my bike across the country several years ago and while it was awesome, it’s probably not the most time-efficient manner of travel, in particular in the winter. And that was before cell phones, so nowadays, thanks to distracted drivers, you’d probably be dead within 50 miles of your house. Walk? We’re not far from this being your best option. Thankfully, all is not...
Editor’s Note: The following is part of a series proposed by Maks Zechel, a 20-year-old Canadian cross-country skier embarking on his first season training abroad. In August, he made the big move to Norway, where he’ll be training and racing with Team Asker for the entire winter. Through these updates, Maks hopes to share his personal “observations, stories and lessons learned” to help close the gap between North American and Scandinavian nordic skiing. Previous posts: #2, #4, #6, and
DDay 2 | Day 4 | Day 6 *** Day 7: Nordic Tech Since no one has more style, steez and flow than the FBD, we’re going to mix it up a bit today and bring in, for lack of a better expression, an expert guest speaker to help walk us through today’s gift suggestions for Nordic Tech. I actually tapped into two experts for today’s gift ideas, Nathan Schultz from Boulder Nordic Sport and Zach Caldwell...
Day 1 | Day 3 | Day 5 *** Day 6: Kick-Ass Gear There is gear and then there is kick-ass gear. You know what I’m talking about — that backpack that you got in college, have taken all over the world, and is still going strong? Those skis that always seem to do well in testing despite getting “a little long in the tooth.” Your lucky “windies,” the wind briefs that have help guide you...
Day 1 | Day 3 | Great Dane/neighbor pizza incident, thanks to the Tactipup collar “restraint handle,” I was able to apprehend my monster as he was making a run for the delicious smelling pizza before any real damage was done. Sure adequate training and even a slightly above average canine I.Q. would also be effective abatement, but sadly, those both seem to be in short supply with this particular beast. These collars are also incredibly...
Coming off ajetted to a victory in the first SuperTour race of 2017/2018 — the freestyle sprint in West Yellowstone, Montana. “I haven’t straight out won a highly competitive race in two years, so winning on my arch nemesis course of West Yellowstone was huge,” Hart, 25, wrote in an email last week about her Dec. 2 sprint win. “I know that the period one altitude is not my best friend, and am really working...
Day 1 | Day 3 *** Day 4: Casual Wear Even though I clearly established on Day 2 with training clothing, and on glove model, but did you know that this hunky Dartmouth graduate also has a vision to “Make Skiing Great Again?” It’s true. Now before everyone gets all worked up that we (really, he, in particular if you are mad – write Zach, NOT me) are normalizing the theme that this hat is...
Day 1 | Day 1, since one loves you like I do, I am going to share my tried and true path to enlightenment, happiness and ski speed: Step 1: Embrace the grind. Step 2: Buy all of the gear listed below and use it exactly as prescribed. Step 3: Go ski. Step 4: Bask in the awesomeness that we have together created. Step 5: Lather, rinse, repeat. Step 6: (Optional) Buy a Great Dane....
his SuperTour win last Sunday and I told him that it was nice to see a good guy win. His response was excellent too, as he asked me, “Thanks FBD, but honestly, are there any guys out here who aren’t good guys that you wouldn’t want to see win?” This is such a good point and it goes to show you that even at the highest level in the sport, those fighting tool and nail...
Right off the line with the hole shot, the first item is probably also one of the most effective. And certainly the most cost-effective: the trusty foam roller. Available for less than $20, my entire test team (along with countless other athletes) all agreed that some form of this item is basically indispensable. In fact, physical therapist to the stars (and U.S. Ski Team), Dave Cieslowski, once told me, “FBD, probably about 80 percent...
Coming off a big showing at 2017 World Cup Finals last March in Quebec City, the Thunder Bay National Team Development Centre (NTDC) — which sent six women and two men to the season-ending finals — is raring to go this winter. TheFinnish immigrants. The Tapiola ski trails (referenced in the workout below) are at the heart of that history. Fast-forward to the present, NTDC Thunder Bay as one of Canada’s big-three national-team training centres...
It’s that time of year when everyone’s raring to get on snow. Let’s say you’re lucky enough to find some — even just a few hundred meters — like the U.S. Paralympics Nordic team did late last month at a training camp at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y. Seven athletes — a combination of high-performance and development skiers — spent a week at Van Ho from Oct. 23-29 for the nordic center’s earliest...
Athletes engaging in big volumes of endurance exercise are at some increased risk of heart problems – compared to those who do moderate exercise. The level of that risk is under debate. At the same time, recreational athletes using heart rate monitors during their training will sometimes see numbers go up as high as 220 or 225 beats per minute (bpm). Such racing heartbeats are called tachycardia, and some of the possible underlying causes can...
Just a friendly reminder that the deadline to let us know about early season ski destinations or venues is fast approaching. We’ll extend it through the weekend (and give Mother Nature a little more time to shape up into her winter self), but if you’d like your favorite spot featured in this year’s U.S. or info@fasterskier.com with the subject line “Fall Skiing” by Sunday, Nov. 5.
This isn’t Erik Bjornsen’s first rodeo. The 26-year-old Washington native was named to the U.S. Ski Team big leagues — spending the bulk of each winter racing overseas in Europe on the World Cup. And at 6-foot-2 and roughly 175 pounds, according to his
Editor’s Note: The following is part of a series proposed by Maks Zechel, a 20-year-old Canadian cross-country skier embarking on his first season training abroad. In August, he recently made the big move to Norway, where he’ll be training and racing with Team Asker for the entire winter. Through these updates, Maks hopes to share his personal “observations, stories and lessons learned” to help close the gap between North American and Scandinavian nordic skiing. Previous posts: #2, #4, #6....
For this Wednesday Workout, we’re bringing back a speed-inducing bounding session Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess shared with us four years ago. These days, Blackhorse-von Jess, 31, is still racing out of the Read the original workout here. *** [circa October 2013] This edition of Wednesday Workout was submitted by Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess, the man who
Part I of this interview discussed findings about general health and exercise habits of American Birkebeiner participants compared to the general public. You can catch up on that piece said at the time. Researchers Paul Anderson and Ralph Bovard received survey responses from more than 5,000 people who had participated in the American Birkebeiner, a cross-country ski marathon held every year in Wisconsin. While the survey asked about exercise, general health status, and behavior, it...
This week’s Wednesday Workout comes from Central Cross Country (CXC) Team member Felicia Gesior. In her second year with CXC, Gesior, 24, is currently working on coordinating the Bergkönig Trail Run, an annual event that began six years ago to raise money for post-collegiate CXC skiers. Race registration and information can be found here. *** Bergkönig. In German, it translates to “mountain king”. In 2011, it translated to the perfect name for the trail run Northern Michigan...